


Rigid and Stale

by Cimmeria



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Firebending & Firebenders, Gen, Iroh (Avatar) is a Good Uncle, Zuko (Avatar)-centric, Zuko is an Awkward Turtleduck
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-06
Updated: 2020-06-06
Packaged: 2021-03-03 22:00:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,015
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24562768
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cimmeria/pseuds/Cimmeria
Summary: Zuko and his incorporations of the other elements in his bending.
Relationships: Aang & Katara (Avatar), Aang & Zuko (Avatar), Katara & Zuko (Avatar), The Gaang & Zuko (Avatar), Toph Beifong & Zuko
Comments: 54
Kudos: 999





	1. Air

**Author's Note:**

> To celebrate ATLA coming back to Netflix!  
> I’ve always loved the idea of Iroh developing lightning redirection from looking at waterbenders, so this fic is inspired by that.

The western air temple is cold. Deceptively so. There’s no snow, no rain, but the air still carries a damp, heavy chill and the nature of the temple keeps them in shadow for the entire latter half of the day.

Zuko is beginning to despise it. He wakes up as the sun rises, but it’s so unlike being home in the Fire Nation. He misses sitting in the gardens, under the warm sunlight. Here, he just sits under the blue shadows cast by the inverted architecture and can’t help but think of it as a kind of anger directed at him. 

Katara’s frequent glares are a simmering, angry cold, like two icebergs coming together to crush a lost ship between them. They make him flinch nearly every time. 

The temple itself is more like a graveyard filled with hungry ghosts and Zuko wasn’t even alive during Sozin’s genocide, but it fills his gut with guilt. It makes him think back to his visit here as a newly banished thirteen-year-old, scar still tender and eye still stinging. The constant wind bites at his skin and burrows into his bones. It’s like the temple can sense that a firebender is living within its walls.  _ You don’t belong here _ , it whispers.

He practices his breathing. Wakes up at sunrise and sits at the very edge of the temple ground, keeping an eye open for the golden light of Agni and trying to be patient.

The sky is still dark and heavy with clouds. The stars have just begun to fade, giving up one by one when confronted with the coming sunlight. Zuko draws in a breath as slow as he can and feels it move through his body. Another faint star winks out.

With his bending back now, he had just begun offering instructions on firebending to Aang yesterday. Breathing, breathing, breathing. He constantly echoes his uncle’s words, passing them on to the young airbender.  _ Firebending comes from the breath _ . The morning air gathers in his middle and starts to twist and writhe. He lets it out and allows the growing fire to come with it. Zuko can feel the energy move through his limbs to come and sit at his fingertips. There, it swirls and tingles lightly, warming his body. 

The new training routine he’s subjecting the Avatar to reminds him of Uncle. He gets up at dawn and rouses Aang and tells him that firebenders rise with the sun. The Avatar, of course, complains about this, whining about needing sleep and how  _ Katara doesn’t make me train in the middle of the night _ . 

Zuko feels a burn of shame brush over his face when he thinks back to complaining and yelling at Uncle as the man had tried his best to teach a stubborn teenager who was unwilling to learn. He tries not to let that thought go any further though. Because then he’ll start thinking. Start worrying. He turned his back on Iroh, spat in his face and rejected every single thing his uncle had tried to instill in him. Zuko hopes his uncle is safe. Wherever he is.

He realizes his breathing has faltered, and blows out an irritated breath through his nose. The red ribbons of flame twirl and die as fast as they came. Zuko notices the angry color. He shakes his head minutely as if to clear away the light sting they’d left over his face.

He looks again at the awakening sky. Blue steadily giving way to a still weakened orange. Agni begins to paint golden outlines over the tired and darkened clouds, but hasn't quite risen over the horizon yet. When Zuko shuts his eyes again, the clouds’ sunlit crowns are still etched into his vision. 

He draws in another breath and waits while the fire builds up its steady heartbeat within him. Heat curls around his face and throat when he releases the breath, and it again runs down his limbs like it’s alive and eager, trailing a soft warmth behind it. He can’t help the corner of his lips ticking upwards briefly. 

“Where’d you learn to do that!” comes an excited voice right in his ear. 

Zuko jerks away from the sound with an undignified yelp. It’s Aang. Of course. He’s bent over to keep his face level with Zuko’s, hands resting on his knees. A bright smile is stretched over his face. His orange shawl is bunched up around his ears, but it falls back into place again when he straightens up.

“Sorry,” he says, slightly subdued now, but still with laughter in his voice. “You didn’t come wake me up.”

“Oh, right. Sorry,” Zuko says. He still feels uncomfortable around the Avatar and his friends, but Aang doesn’t seem to feel the same. At least he doesn’t outwardly and bitterly express his distrust like Katara.

“So? Where’d you learn to do that?” he asks again.

Zuko turns away, heart twisting. “My uncle taught it to me. It’s called Breath of Fire.”

“It reminds me of an airbender technique,” Aang tells him. “We can keep ourselves warm just through our breathing.”

“That’s… interesting.” Zuko cringes. Aang and his friends are never going to learn to like him if he can’t even carry a conversation with them. “Is that why you were just fine up in the North Pole without any winter clothes?”

“Yup. Airbender temples get pretty cold. Sorry, I guess.”

“It’s fine.” Zuko looks away, turning his gaze towards the horizon again, and breathes in. The fire that accompanies his exhale is yellow-white, and he can’t help but feel pride well up in his chest when the Avatar looks impressed at the action.

“Are you gonna teach me to do that?” the kid asks, pleading. 

Zuko raises an eyebrow. “Why? It’s clearly not as effective as the airbending thing. And you don’t need to know both.”

“It looks cool though. And I’ve been practicing  _ breathing _ like you told me to do.” Aang chooses to sit down then, crossing his legs in a mirror image of Zuko’s. His back is straight, eyes closed, and he pointedly draws in a full breath of air. He lets it go after several seconds.

“Later,” is all Zuko offers in response.

They sit together in an amiable silence as Agni finally climbs over the ravine’s edge, opposite of them. While the morning sun is still low, the temple and the cliffs don’t block the light. Molten gold fingertips reach out to embrace the land, and Zuko closes his eyes as it touches his face with a warmth he hasn’t felt in a long time. 

A small shift reminds Zuko of the Avatar’s presence next to him. “Hot squats,” he mutters.

“What?”

“Fifty hot squats, now. The sun is up, you should be energized.”

Aang gets up with an exaggerated groan and shuffles away from the temple’s edge to do as Zuko told him. “Yes, Sifu Hotman.”

“And don’t call me that!”


	2. Water

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I decided to do something other than lightning redirection for how he incorporates waterbending, so here it is! Enjoy!

Hot, orange flames dance playfully over Zuko’s fingertips and he feeds another breath into the path of energy going down his arm. Aang mirrors the breath and his own respective fire flares up— more jerkily than Zuko’s, but still a change. The kid only flinches slightly. Zuko decides to take it as a win.

“That’s good,” he says and extinguishes the fire. “Now show me your stance again and we can go over some basic katas.”

“Yes, Sifu Hotman,” Aang says brightly and assumes the stance for what seems like the hundredth time now. 

Zuko lets the nickname slide this time and settles for just glowering at the kid. 

Seeing no need to correct Aang’s position, he follows the Avatar’s lead, fluidly shifting his weight between his feet and taking a deep breath. Zuko focuses his attention on the energy running up his spine and down his arms, briefly sliding his glance over to Aang. Fire bursts to life, cradled in the kid’s palms and they both begin to move through the exercise. 

Zuko pushes his hand forward, an attack against some unseen enemy, and orange-and-yellow ribbons of fire burst forward. His front foot slides forward simultaneously, grinding against the temple stone. The momentum carries him forward into a dizzying spin and he kicks a leg up, the fire licking aggressively into the air. 

From the corner of his eye he can see that the Avatar is performing the kata well, but his flames are red— not enough oxygen, not enough heat.

They finish the exercise and Zuko lets out a breath before turning to the kid at his side. “Your breathing still isn’t good enough. Your fire is too red and that means it’s not as hot.”

Aang lets out a loud sigh and starts looking a little dejected. 

“Um… let’s try sparring.”

“I’m not sure I’m really ready for that,” Aang says, posture slouching.

“You’ll be fine.” Zuko taps his foot against the Avatar’s. “No specific katas, just focus on breathing while also bending.” 

Aang nods, and drops into a stance. Zuko does the same and waits for Aang to attack first. Airbenders are defined by evasion, he knows this. Firebending, on the other hand, is defined by aggression and he has told this to the young Avatar many times before. Still, Aang hesitates slightly before launching a kick in Zuko’s direction, a wild lick of yellow flame trailing behind his foot.

Zuko counters the movement and sends back his own attack with a punch forward. He makes sure to keep his strikes light. Katara would probably throw him off the side of the temple if Aang got hurt while training with him. 

They eventually fall into a kind of rhythmic dance, back and forth. Aang isn’t quite bending like a firebender, though. Zuko can recognize the circular movements that he’s using— constantly changing directions, trying to surround his enemy.

“You’re still fighting like an airbender,” he tells him. “Firebending is external! You’re trying to go  _ through _ your enemy, not around them,” Zuko says.

“Okay, okay. Sorry,” Aang says, then lets out a powerful burst of fire from two side-by-side fists. 

Zuko is forced back in his defense. The corners of his lips tick upwards. That’s better. A second attack follows it and he takes another step back. 

Zuko bends his knees and sweeps his hands over the ground, then draws them back up rapidly. Fire pools over the temple’s stone floor and rises up in a wall to follow his hands. He pushes it towards Aang and instead of dodging, the Avatar sends a slice of fire through the center of it with his pointer and middle fingers. The flames dissipate off to either side, golden ribbons twirling into nothing, and Zuko stands up straight. 

He offers a short bow to Aang and it is returned.

“That looked like a waterbending move,” comes Katara’s voice. Both Zuko and Aang jump and turn to see her standing several feet away, leaning a hip against one of the temple’s carved pillars. She laughs at their reaction before stepping forward to stand with them. 

“How long have you been there?” Zuko asks. He can’t believe these people can sneak up on him so easily. At least Sokka hasn’t gotten the jump on him yet. No, he always yells  _ sneak attack  _ whenever he tries that, which ruins any surprise he might have been going for.

“I don’t know, basically since you started sparring. Are you sure that Aang’s ready for that?” She levels an accusatory glare at him and he looks away, shrugging. “He only started learning firebending a couple days ago.”

“It’s alright Katara. It was super fun! Zuko is a surprisingly good teacher.”

He tries not to take offense at that, but Katara seems to relax a bit at the reassurance. Now, she just looks at him slightly curiously, if not coldly. 

“Was it?” she asks.

“Was what?”

“Was that thing you just did a waterbending move?”

“Oh, um… I don’t know. I wasn’t really thinking about it or anything,” Zuko says. “I guess it kind of was a waterbending technique.”

Katara just hums. 

Aang looks excited. “Can you teach me to do it? I bet it would be easy ‘cause I already know waterbending.”

“No.” Zuko glances at him, crossing his arms. There’s no way that’s a good idea. “You’re gonna learn how to firebend like a firebender before you learn to firebend like a waterbender.”

Aang groans. “Whatever you say, Sifu Hotman.”

Zuko just glares and blows smoke out of his nose.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just finished the show last night and now I’m sad :(  
> I have a bunch of new ideas for fics though!


	3. Earth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here’s the last chapter, this time featuring Toph! This was definitely the hardest of the three to write and I’m not completely satisfied with it, but I want to move on to my other fic ideas.

Considering all the wanted posters that are pasted up around Ember Island, it makes sense that they’d eventually come face-to-face with someone who thinks that they’re going to be able to apprehend the Avatar and the traitor Fire Nation prince. Zuko blames Aang’s general refusal about covering his arrow, other than when it’s absolutely necessary. One might also blame Zuko’s scar, which is essentially impossible to hide. 

Not that it matters right this moment. Because they’re currently being surrounded. He’s not particularly worried though. 

It was just supposed to be some simple training on the beach between Aang and himself. They’d wandered down to a small cove about a mile from the house that Zuko used to go to be alone when he was a kid. (Or when he found himself the subject of one of Azula’s more sadistic moods). Sokka and Suki had stayed behind at the house together, doing Agni knows what. Toph had been complaining for the past several days about being cooped up in one place for too long, so she joined them. And Katara had simply expressed concern about Aang, Zuko, and Toph going out together and inevitably doing something stupid.

It’s four master benders— one of which is the Avatar— versus a group of five firebenders who don’t know what they’re doing. No, definitely not worried.

Zuko drops into a low, solid stance, bending his knees and taking a deep breath to kindle the fire running through his veins. To his right, Toph slams a foot down and sends a wave through the sand, disrupting the ground beneath their enemies. Zuko sends a blast of fire their way while they regain their balance. 

On his other side, Aang uses airbending to push back his own opponent. He doesn’t have his staff— but he sends whirling gust after gust forward from his hands. Their original intention was to firebend on this beach, but Zuko finds he doesn’t mind too much. There’s no doubt that the Avatar is a much more skilled airbender than he is a firebender.

A switch of bright orange fire slices down towards Zuko’s face and he disperses it before counter attacking with a punch forward. The man in front of him ducks down and sends a flurry of fireballs at his feet. Zuko steps back, heat singeing his skin.

The sand under him is unsteady. It continuously shifts as he tries to find his balance. It’s distracting. Another dodge, fists held outstretched to protect his body from the flames. 

Zuko digs a heel into the sand to steady his root again and pushes a powerful arc of fire ahead of him horizontally. His attacker is caught in it and stumbles in his retreat. 

From the corner of his eye he can see Katara using the ocean to push back the firebenders, water moving like blue silk under the sunlight.

Toph, on the other hand, is struggling. Her attacks occasionally go wide of their targets. Others seem comparatively weak. It must be the sand. Zuko can imagine how frustrating the unsteady earth must be for a bender who sees with their feet.

It only takes a few seconds for their group to have backed their attackers up against the rock wall of the cove. 

“Toph, bind them to the stone,” Katara tells her. “We need to leave right now.”

“You got it, Sugar Queen,” Toph says brightly. Rock erupts neatly from the cove wall to encircle wrists and ankles. “Nice try, guys, but there’s no way you were gonna win that fight.”

The firebenders all just scowl at her to varying degrees of fury. No doubt thinking about the reward money they’d just lost. Turning both the Avatar and Zuko into the Fire Lord would’ve definitely made them rich.

“Alright, let’s go,” Katara says, voice laced with concern. “There could be more.” She turns to leave and they all follow her lead, wanting to be out of sight and at the house again. They run along the shore for a minute or so.

Even once they’ve rounded the cliffs surrounding the cove, a tension hovers over the group.

“Do you think the house is still safe?” Aang finally asks. Zuko wondered the same thing, but...

“I think so. Pretty sure they just stumbled upon us at the cove,” he says. “They probably won’t pursue us. And even if they do, they probably aren’t going to investigate the Fire Lord’s private and abandoned summer home.”

“Plus, Sozin’s comet is only a few days away. We won’t be hiding out there for much longer,” Katara adds.

“Makes sense,” Toph mumbles and then kicks at the sand, sending a spray forward to hit the back of Zuko’s legs. She’s lagging behind slightly and Zuko slows down to match her pace. “I hate sand. I can barely see,” she says.

“Well, even with the sand, you can still fight well,” he says.

Toph points at him— or more in his general direction. “You got that right. Although, it’s not like that sorry group was much of a challenge.”

That’s true. 

“By the way, Sparky. You’ve got an earthbender’s stance,” she tells him, sounding pleased. “Even with the sand making my vision all fuzzy, I can tell it’s very solid.”

Zuko raises an eyebrow, surprised. “Well… fire and earth are mutually nourishing elements so—”

Toph holds a hand up in front of his face. “Didn’t ask for a lesson. Just accept the compliment.”

“Uh… Thanks, then,” he says, a warm feeling welling up in his chest. She punches his arm gently— well, Toph probably considers it gentle— and smiles at him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed!


End file.
